A writer must “know and have an ever-present consciousness that this world is a world of fools and rogues… tormented with envy, consumed with vanity; selfish, false, cruel, cursed with illusions… He should free himself of all doctrines, theories, etiquettes, politics…” —Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). “The nobility of the writer's occupation lies in resisting oppression, thus in accepting isolation” —Albert Camus (1913-1960). “What are you gonna do” —Bertha Brown (1895-1987).

2 SERS annuitant members
1 GARS annuitant member
1 TRS annuitant member
1 SURS annuitant member
—Seek to represent class of all SERS,
GARS, TRS and SURS annuitants and subclass of State 2002 ERI annuitants
with 20 years of service and “not subject to a CBA”

Declaration law is unconstitutional
Injunction stopping its implementation
Injunction reinstating prior law
Escrow of difference between COLA calculations, pending resolution of
lawsuit

Retired State Employees
Association (RSEA)

Filed: January 2, 2014

Location: Sangamon County

Plaintiffs:

RSEA (on behalf of all its members)
4 SERS annuitant members
—Seek to represent class of all SERS
annuitants, survivors and inactive employees not yet receiving benefits
and subclass of State ERI annuitants

On
March 3, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court consolidated the first four lawsuits
for proceedings in Sangamon County Circuit Court. On April 8, 2014, the fifth
lawsuit, filed by the State Universities Annuitants Association on March 6,
2014, was consolidated with the other four.

For a
Commentary (and just one of many from pension analyses):Click Here.

Today, [November 20] a hearing was held in Sangamon County Circuit Court in the Pension lawsuit on our motion that the State constitution’s pension clause does not permit the State to impair or diminish pension benefits under any circumstances. The judge will issue his written decision tomorrow at 2. If the judge rules in our favor, he will be deciding that SB 1 is unconstitutional. Even if he rules against our motion, it won’t mean that he is ruling that SB 1 is constitutional. It will only mean that he wants to hear evidence on the State’s claim that in severe financial circumstances, it can diminish pension rights. Once he hears that evidence, he could very well still decide that the law is unconstitutional because the State hasn’t made the case that the situation is so dire that it can abrogate pension benefits. We will keep you posted.

Teacher/Poet/Musician

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Persona

"I want everything to be explained to me or nothing. And reason is impotent when it hears this cry from the heart. The mind aroused by this insistence seeks and finds nothing but contradiction and nonsense" —Albert Camus (1913-1960).